The Ami Theatre Company
Founded in 1994 by actor-director Okamura Yojiro, the company devises contemporary
verse drama, by paradoxically utilizing the improvisational potential as
well as the non-naturalistic physicality and style of traditional noh theatre.
Furthermore the Ami Theatre explores the possibilities of making a new contemporary
mask drama.In constructing a high-tension centripetal kind of staging,
Ami aims to stir the audience’s unconscious so that a dynamic and primordial
drama may flower in its imaginary.

The avant garde and the traditional collide and converge in Ami’s performance;
yet at the same time, the Ami Theatre enjoys a reputation of being the
closest to authentic noh theatre.

The “dynamic and primordial stage” mentioned above refers to Okamura’s
concept of the “disappearing stage”. For further information, refer to
the Ami Theatre manifesto that explains the company’s acting theory.

Okamura YojiroActor, director and head of the Ami Theatre Company.
Through a five-year physical training on the “recovery of the body” at
the Takeuchi Toshiharu Theatre Institute, Okamura Yojiro discovered for
himself the origin of theatrical creation. He then trained with the renowned
noh actor Kanze Hideo for eight years. In this way, Okamura enjoys an unusual
background for a practitioner engaging in contemporary theatre. In addition,
he is the owner-manager of the Tokyo Babylon Theatre complex, which is
dedicated to the production of experimental performance arts such as butoh,
contemporary dance, and theatre.